January 10, 2010

The NYT has a remarkable series of interactive maps for 12 metropolitan areas showing Netflix DVD rentals by movie by by zip code. For example, in LA, Woody Allen's Oscar winner Vicky Cristina Barcelona is #1 in Beverly Hills 90210, but isn't even in the top 50 for most of Socal away from the Hollywood Hills and the coast. One exception is the Montebello-Whittier area, which is the most upscale Mexican-American region, whose residents might be attracted to a movie that's partly in Spanish and stars Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem, big stars from Spain.

A couple of methodological biases to note: Netflix rentals by mail are driven by grown-ups, not by teenagers who like going to movies at the mall. Also, Netflix is usually seen as more upscale in its customer base than renting by mail from Blockbuster. (Stuff White People Like has a chapter on Netflix.) And, in general, renting by mail, with its inherent demand of planning ahead, is more upscale than the immediate gratification of renting at a store or buying a video.

So, these maps don't really compare, say, movie tastes in Beverly Hills to Compton, they compare the tastes of Netflix subscribers in Beverly Hills to those of Netflix subscribers in Compton. That tends to make the chasms in taste look smaller than they really are -- although they look pretty big on the maps, anyway.

Thus, The Dark Knight doesn't do particularly well on Netflix because most of the people who wanted to see it went out and saw it in the theatres. And then, if they really liked it, they bought the DVD rather than rented it. The type of movies that do well on these Netflix maps tend to be Oscar-bait movies that were only moderate hits in theatres, such as Brad Pitt's Benjamin Button and Angelina Jolie and Clint Eastwood's Changeling. You get the feeling of dutifulness looking through the maps -- you see a lot of people ordering Important Movies that they feel guilty that they weren't enthused enough to see in first release.

Mad Men, unsurprisingly, is only popular on DVD in the entertainment industry zip codes of LA.

One interesting thing is that you can frequently see the black neighborhoods in west south central LA -- check out the Tyler Perry movies for the map of black LA. The black neighborhoods tend to either love small movies (if they have black stars) or ignore small movies (if they don't have black stars).

The huge Hispanic neighborhoods to the east, however, aren't as distinctive in their tastes. Blacks and Hispanics share a taste for big budget action thrill rides like Eagle Eye. But, Hispanics like romantic comedies with white actresses, which blacks don't really like.There are almost no movies in Netflix's top 100 that have Latin American stars, so they mostly seem to take whatever popcorn movie Hollywood is handing out (while avoiding indie stuff like Rachel Getting Married, with its SWPL multiculti obsessions.) Most Latin American stars who make prestigious Netflix-type Hollywood movies, such as Selma Hayek, Benicio Del Toro, and Gael Garcia Bernal appeal more to high-end SWPL tastes than to Latino immigrant tastes. Heck, Hollywood regularly employs a New Zealand Maori, Cliff Curtis, to impersonate Latin Americans! The only Hollywood filmmaker who seems to have any creative insight into what Mexicans would be interested in is Mel Gibson.

The impact of 50 million Hispanics on American popular culture remains remarkably small.

The maps can be oddly centered -- the LA map, for example, includes places like Placentia, but not Malibu and Santa Monica. You can click on a map and drag it to see more suburbs.

59 comments:

Thanks for that link, Steve. Fascinating! They don't have maps for Philadephia, where I live now, so I reviewed the ones for my hometown, DC.

At least as interesting as the ethnic implications are the social class implications of these rental patterns. The pattern for Paul Blart Mall Cop is almost exactly the reverse of that for Milk or Burn After Reading.

Blart is popular not only in black neighborhoods but mostly in the DC area's few working and lower-middle-class white or mixed neighborhoods. These are concentrated on the east and southeast side of the metro area. Meanwhile the Harvey Milk hagiography and Burn are most popular in the affluent and/or trendy neighborhoods on the western side of the area. The two maps are like mirror images of each other.

There's nothing surprising in this, but it's always fun to see one's social preconceptions* confirmed.

*(And, frankly snobbery - SWPL or not, I'd much rather hang out with people who watched Burn After Reading than people who think watching an unsophisticated comedy like Blart is a worthwhile way to spend a Saturday night. Furthermore, if you know DC, you'll notice that the places that prefer the better movies are also much nicer places to live.)

Then, we have the rom-coms and "women's pictures" like Nights in Rodanthe. The popularity of these movies seems to form a donut around the closer-in neighborhoods (although they, like their higher-brow cousins, are more popular in the western surburs than the eastern). I guess those exurban soccer moms rule the roost when it comes to deciding what to rent on Netflix.

"Most Whites, contrary to Steve, just don't care one way or another about Blacks. They don't show up for Black themed (Perry, Precious, etc.) films and are fairly indifferent to Blind Side." -- Whiskey

I just had to dredge up that quote, because I'm sure Steve's much too classy to say "I told you so".

"And, frankly snobbery - SWPL or not, I'd much rather hang out with people who watched Burn After Reading than people who think watching an unsophisticated comedy like Blart is a worthwhile way to spend a Saturday night. Furthermore, if you know DC, you'll notice that the places that prefer the better movies are also much nicer places to live."

"*(And, frankly snobbery - SWPL or not, I'd much rather hang out with people who watched Burn After Reading than people who think watching an unsophisticated comedy like Blart is a worthwhile way to spend a Saturday night."

Yes, but you'll emerge from Paul Blart saying, Hey, that was better than I figured it would be, while you'll emerge from Burn After Reading saying, Wow, the Coens are really as heartless and inhuman as everybody says they are.

In general, I think the Coens are making movies too fast these days. They'd be better on a one every two year schedule than their current one a year schedule.

interesting. but i wonder what took so long to release the hurt locker on DVD. it doesn't even come out until next week.

also, i notice that the LA times homicide map is still gone. it went away in august 2009 and never came back. i'm starting to think it is has been retired due to "disparate impact". the rate at which euro americans murder people in LA has to be extremely low today, maybe even lower than the rate for asian americans.

Wow, the Coens are really as heartless and inhuman as everybody says they are.

But I'm cold and heartless too, so that works out.

In addition to the positive and negative correlations, it's interesting to look at movies that are orthogonal. Burn After Reading and Gran Torino don't seem to have much of a correlation. There are zip codes where you can find either, neither, or both. The last being the areas I suspect I'd like to live.

"The impact of 50 million Hispanics on American popular culture remains remarkably small."

Not just on American culture, but Latin American and world culture, judged by people who don't live in the country of origin and so are not biased.

Most of the highly rated stuff from Latin America comes from areas with lots of Africans, and perhaps also Europeans, but few Amerindians. All "Latin" music for example comes from the Caribbean. Brazil does pretty well too with samba, bossa nova, etc.

No matter what is seen where and by whom, it appears as though just about ALL the films are coming out of Hollywood LA. Pity. US is made up of 50 states yet one little city controls our collective image and what we get to see.

Why aren't there independent film studios all over America telling local stories?

"also, i notice that the LA times homicide map is still gone. it went away in august 2009 and never came back."

I remember that map! It was so hilariously over the top in conjunction with the LATimes political bias, they said they had to drop it, citing "budgetary reasons."I was surprised as they were running it. I thought, "this is so unlike the LATimes! They're actually reporting community news that's relevant. Maybe they have new leadership."No.

Thanks for entertaining my curiosity Bill. I didn't realize that the base was so large that it is home to over 20,000 servicemen and have a zip code all to itself. Well, at least now we know what movies the U.S. military enjoys, or the Air Force at least.

Whites don't show up for Perry films. The only way they show up is if there is a White protagonist who somehow is transformed by the "Magical Negro" to quote Spike Lee.

How many Whites show up for Precious? Or Diary of a Mad Black Woman? Or Madea Goes to Jail? Those are Black films.

Blind Side has Sandra Bullock as the star with her pet/adopted child as the "cause." It's about Sandra Bullock, not Oher. This is why you get "Magical Negro" stuff -- it's all about the White Guy (or gal). That was the whole point of Crash, I guess. Sandra Bullock is magically transformed.

FWIW the Marine Corps press officer blasted Avatar as not reflective of Marines Warrior-scholar mentality. Or US servicemen's sacrifices.------I'd rather watch Blart. At least it might have a few laughs. Burn sounds tedious and boring.--------You won't get suitcase nukes. You will get shipping container nukes. I'm shocked a few cities haven't been nuked yet. Well, I doubt we'll get past Obambi's term without it happening. No one abroad is afraid of him.

I had the reverse reaction that Steve Wood had. (And I agree with Mr. Sailer about "Paul Blart.") I live in one of those areas where "Burn" and "Milk" are at the top, but my sympathies are with the folks with better taste out in the exurbs.

Steve Sailer's argument that Latin Americans have failed to influence World popular culture and are uncreative is redundant, because you need lots of money and resources to do that, which Latin Americans don't have.

For instance, Brazil has made a few films that are as good as the best the U.S has made, but very few people have watched them because they lack the expensive special effects that only Hollywood studios can afford. To make a film popular, you need huge special effects and even more importantly, the ability to create interest in them globally via marketing, all which requires lots of money and resources which only big Hollywood studios have.

As for global celebrities, the same holds true: with the exception of a few sports like "soccer", you only become a global celebrity by appearing in Hollywood films or American music clips, and obviously the majority of these people will be white Americans. Hollywood studios spent the past century building a huge marketing machine to make their stars global, and no studios from poor countries or even from European countries can compete with that. The only way for a Latin American to become a global celebrity outside football would be to make it big in Hollywood or in the American music market, and obviously, both favor English-speaking people who look European to be their stars.

As for why Latin Americans at 50 million of the U.S population have failed to influence American culture with lots of celebrities, it boils to racism and chauvinism on the part of white Americans. There is no other possible explanation. There is no way that you wouldn't find interesting personalities with interesting looks out of a sample of 50 million people. East Asians are a lot duller than Latinos, and even them have produced some global celebrities via Hollywood, like Jackie Chan, Bruce Lee and Lucy Liu. White Americans, who pay for most movie tickets and represent the main customers of the music industry don't want Latinos as tjheir main stars. There are plenty of roles for Latinos in Hollywood, but it's usually roles like that of the big moustached traficante that dies a horrible death in the first 15 minutes of film at the hands of the all-American John Wayne look-alike hero wearing his polo shirt. It's as redundant saying that Latin Americans have failed to produce global celebrities as saying that they have failed, with an average stature for males of 5'6, to produce a lot of basketball stars.

The maps also show where the Bible Belt is located. Fireproof, a movie aimed at Evangelical Protestants, is moderately popular in the exurbs of Dallas and Atlanta but with a few isolated exceptions doesn't show up at all anywhere else.

"How many Whites show up for Precious? Or Diary of a Mad Black Woman? Or Madea Goes to Jail? Those are Black films."

Most white people haven't even heard of Tyler Perry, that's why they aren't seeing his movies. I've seen his movies and with a few exceptions, I think they are pretty good. Madea is great character who mixes her crazy antics with some life lessons, so she should appeal to more than just black people if Perry's movies were marketed correctly. As for Precious, it's Oscar bait and has limited release so no, most people aren't going to see it IN THEATERS, especially if they don't live in a major city but if it gets enough buzz, they will probably put it in their NetFlix queue.

France alone has produced more great films than any other country yet of the 70 or so of the top 100 that I looked up at the link there isn't a single film from the entire European continent. (There aren't many from Britain either). Today's Europe barely registers in the American mind.

What are the demographics of the Mexican and other Latin American drug cartels? I've been hearing a lot about their ultra-violent attacks recently, including vicious beheadings and stitching faces on soccer balls.

It seems like the henchmen/footsoldiers are largely mestizo and Amerind, while the cartel bosses are European or at least have more European admixture. Kind of like what you see in the movies.

I get the feeling that the Coens are playing games to amuse themselves lately. "Burn After Reading" had lots of Hollywood stars, which they proceeded to waste, and "A Serious Man" had no stars, which it could have used. That sounds like they had a gimmick in mind with the two movies as a contrasting pair.

The impact of 50 million Hispanics on American popular culture remains remarkably small.

I do hereby make the claim that both Los Angeles and Miami have dropped much farther off the awareness radar of the United States in the past twenty years (farther than they otherwise would have) because of the Latino influx. Houston also goes in this category, but because Houston is more of a blue collar (no tourist industry) town, it isn't as noticeable.

I would like to see a flow chart of national news stories that have emerged from LA and Miami in the past twenty years. It is my impression that there was a steady downward trend in Miami and then a near complete drop off --- and that the same trend played out in LA only a decade or so later.

Does the LA Times still get published in English? Who are the top writers there? Hasn't half the LAT newsroom been fired at least twice in the last few years? I was aware of the occasional web link back in the early days of the internet but it seems like these days hardly anyone links to LA Times articles.

Also, I don't see or hear the "living in LA stories" anymore from writers in general at magazines like Slate. And is there such thing as an LA music scene anymore --- that doesn't involve mariachis?

Warrior-scholar mentality huh? They must be why they're the only service without a college.

That's because the Marine Corps is actually the Navy's expeditionary ground force, not a 'service,' as you are using the term. It was only about 20 years ago that the Commandant was elevated to the Joint Chiefs, iirc.

I can see why Mr. Sailer watches this Hollywood junk (can't review a film without seeing it, of course) but why are the rest of you wasting your time and money on this abominable crap? Boycott Hollywood and get a life! If you just have to watch a movie then there are hundreds of them from the good old days worth watching. I'm working my way through Bud Boetticher's 1950s stuff now and enjoying them. I'll probably start on the John Wayne flicks I've missed next and you should do the same, pilgrims!

I had no idea Milk and Benjamin Button were so universally popular. I didn't watch the former after Steve's reviews and the latter was a Forest Gump meets freak show that I stopped watching half way through. Looking at my own Netflix history I had a very light viewing year with no movies after Thanksgiving - I think it was just a lousy year for movies.

Most of the highly rated stuff from Latin America comes from areas with lots of Africans, and perhaps also Europeans, but few Amerindians. All "Latin" music for example comes from the Caribbean. Brazil does pretty well too with samba, bossa nova, etc.

That's an interesting observation. Why are Africans in Africa so very different from the descendants of Africans abroad when it comes to things like music?

As for why Latin Americans at 50 million of the U.S population have failed to influence American culture with lots of celebrities, it boils to racism and chauvinism on the part of white Americans. There is no other possible explanation.

One rather obvious explanation is that Latin Americans have produced very little worth anyones attention in the area of culture. But you go with that "racism" thingy if it makes you feel better.

This is why I read iSteve every day. I get insights into myself (or at least my neighbors).

I also check my NetFlix queue every day. I worry that I'm too obsessed with watching movies. But now I find that in my ZIP code I have only seen two of the top ten most popular movies - Burn Before Reading and The Wrestler. I hadn't even heard of several of the other most popular NetFlix rentals in my ZIP code. The majority of these films I have actively avoided. Just what kind of strange people are my neighbors who would rent Milk or Doubt?

Burn Before Reading and Paul Blart are rather similar in that the plot premises are silly and thin but the lead actor's performances are hilarious. Comedies that are actually funny are rare enough that I can forgive a lot of shortcomings. But I guess I'm sensitive to being lectured by a movie with an agenda.

The Netflix map is a little surprising. Those of us that live in LA know that Sunland seems to have a a lot more exceptionally poor white people than any other part of the metroplex. But when you look at the movie rental list, you don't see a lot of movies that appeal to poor whites.

I honestly don't see as much difference between the poor white areas of LA and the rich white areas as I would have expected

"Burn Before Reading" was hilarious. Most good comedy is "inhuman and heartless" - just like most good comedians. Too much Hollywood "comedy" is life affirming saccharine dreck, I want no punches pulled. And the casting was brilliant in that film - Malkovich was exactly what I would expect an alcoholic lazy Princeton grad in the CIA to be like. Even Brad Pitt was great.

I'm also surprised Steve doesn't appreciate "A Simple Man" more - one of the few Hollywood films to be brutally honest about how a lot of Jews feel about their neighbors and how thin the veneer of assimilation really is. It's probably the most honest HBD film I can remember, at least since Idiocracy.

Steve, generally the most fearless blogger on the internet, has denied us a review of either movie. That's disappointing because both his reviews and the subsequent comments would make for interesting reading.

i don't think it's all that big of a deal, but it was somewhat on topic, being a similar type of map, so i mentioned it. the LA times clearly lied about the reason that the map disappeared from their site. it's hardly a major issue. outright lies are somewhat regular now for liberal newspapers and television channels today.

"The map bears this out."

what the map bears out, like a loudly ringing fire alarm, like a huge 800 pound gorilla that you cannot NOT notice, is who is doing all the murdering in los angeles. despite still being about 35% of the population, euro americans are barely killing anybody anymore. about 1 in 3 of the "white" murderers in LA is not even european, but a north african, middle easterner, or central asian, as per the FBI's new and totally stupid rules. so in LA, the rate at which euro americans are killing people might actually be so low, that it has fallen below the rate at which asians are killing people. east asians, southeast asians, and pacific islanders are much less than 35% of the population of LA.

again, the point: the map too effectively shows who is doing all the killing. the map makes this glaringly obvious, like the summer sun beating down on los angeles at high noon.

As I said, I live West of the 405 and North of the 10, and my area is pretty safe from all sorts of violent crime. It is just not a problem in this vast quadrant of the city.

I don't know many people, liberal or conservative, that are ignorant of the fact that NAMS commit nearly all the murders in the larger LA area. It is just an accepted fact of life, not notable in any way.

What is interesting to me is that the drive to get away from murdering NAMs is not the top priority for most affluent whites I know. For example, plenty of affluent whites that can afford to live anywhere they want move to Manhattan Beach and do shopping and movie going west of Sepulveda mixed among the NAMs. Even though there have been shootings (some fatal) by NAMs in this area, most of Manhattan Beach still shops in this area since it is the only big box shopping anywhere near Manhattan Beach.

On the other hand, some of the safest areas in the whole state (like Simi Valley) attract almost no wealthy whites. You might not find a single person in Simi Valley that can afford the average house in Manhattan Beach.

I respect very much that most of the people on this blog have as their #1 priority not living near NAMs but there is evidence that living near NAMs or not living near NAMs is not the top concern of many others in the general population of Los Angles.

So yes, you are correct. NAMs commit nearly all the murders. But why not take the discussion in to more interesting areas

Just because white Americans, due to chauvinism, do not appreciate salsa, merengue, bossa nova, samba, etc, does not mean that Latin Americans haven't made musical contributions to the World; just because white Americans don't want Latinos as movie stars does not mean that there aren't any Latinos with the looks and personalities to become stars out of a sample of 50 million people. Yes, the reason why Latino cultural contributions aren't noticed in the U.S is because white Americans don't care about them, not because Latinos haven't made any.

"I don't know many people, liberal or conservative, that are ignorant of the fact that NAMS commit nearly all the murders in the larger LA area."

i know lots and lots people in their 20s who don't know this. almost every american news media outlet has made it one of their top priorities in the last 15 years to make sure the viewers never understand what is actually happening out there. why else would they have developed all these code words and double talk procedures for reporting crime?

1) rapist but not a european male. the news crew is suddenly, mysteriously incapable of giving a helpful description.

2) shooting at location, multiple fatalies, suspect unclear. news crew reports that the suspect is probably a white ma...oh wait, random third world immigrant. drop the story from headlines, I SAID DROP THE STORY FROM HEADLINES.

3) riots and burning cars in france again. youths! those lovable, fiesty youths. young "french" people have so much spunk.

4) american arrested for terrorism? detroit area man. chicago area man. new jersey area man. they're just area men. it's nothing to be alarmed about. we'll simply report this stuff the way the onion does. "Area man likes to blow stuff up." he's exactly the same as you and me. he's an area man!

my life experiences must be vastly different from yours. i know so many white people in their 20s today, who are insulated from the NAMS, and who have grown up on a steady diet of US news media brainwashing. these people are oblivious to how the NAMS in their city actually behave in general. especially white women.

in 2010, the television regularly portrays NAMS as doctors and pilots and lawyers and scientists. most of the news media goes FAR out of it's way to avoid reporting on violent NAM criminals. and our own president reminds us several times a year that islam is a religion of peace. yet the same US news media goes into coverage overkill mode when the rare euro american christian turns out to be a noteworthy criminal.

i posted before about the 08 election. multiple young whites in their 20s, people who live in big cities but miles away from the NAM areas, told me that i was wrong about barack obama going to a radical church for 20 years. people that LIVE IN CHICAGO were telling me that it was not true. this is the first generation that has been raised in an environment of daily brainwashing on this topic.

What is interesting to me is that the drive to get away from murdering NAMs is not the top priority for most affluent whites I know... Even though there have been shootings (some fatal) by NAMs in this area, most of Manhattan Beach still shops in this area since it is the only big box shopping anywhere near Manhattan Beach... So yes, you are correct. NAMs commit nearly all the murders. But why not take the discussion in to more interesting areas...

Paul Blart: Mall Cop has the most interesting rental pattern. It appeals to the lower classes of all races. It's popular in the South Bronx and in the hick areas around Minnesota. It doesn't make the top-50 in any zip code where you would want to lvie.

Who said they don't care? Go to the Latino districts in your own city and you will head a lot of Spanish being spoken and lots of salsa playing. They are true to their roots. In fact, it goes to show what a lowly, brass, vulgar and debauched people white Americans are that they appreciate black "gangster rap", but don't appreciate salsa, merengue and bolero. Truly pathetic. The lack of popularity of Latino music in the U.S and the popularity of hip hop puts more white Americans under a negative light than Latinos.

Burn After Reading was crap, but the Coens are very bad with comedy. They can't admit to themselves that their niche is ironic violent drama. But I know lots of nerds disagree and think stuff like The Big Lebowski is genius. It's just stoner humor, get over it.

"Burn After Reading was crap, but the Coens are very bad with comedy. They can't admit to themselves that their niche is ironic violent drama. But I know lots of nerds disagree and think stuff like The Big Lebowski is genius. It's just stoner humor, get over it."

You don't perceive a connection between comedy and something that is 'ironic'? I guess it's true what they say about Americans.

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